Abstract

This essay examines the dialectics of hegemony and resistance implied in discourses related to crime. Its main hypothesis relies on the idea that all discursive constructions of truth are based on a series of systems of knowledge, principles of authority and forms of resistance to authority that reveal crucial social mechanisms. Starting from this premise, I analyse a number of key patterns shared by the detective stories of Poe (1809–1849), Piglia (1941) and Holmberg (1852–1937). These narratives reveal dialectics of hegemony and resistance that rise from their specific contexts; dialectics that affect social relations (Poe), logics of power (Piglia) or systems of knowledge (Holmberg) and are articulated in persistent dichotomies: normal-abnormal, order-disorder, rational-irrational. This approach allows me to tackle similar problems found in three different historical contexts while proposing a reading of the detective story from the angle of cultural history.